Communication networks can be formed from several devices that are able to communicate with each other (or at least with a few other devices). One example of a communication network is a ZigBee network that is based on an IEEE 802.15.4 specification. These types of networks can be used for communication with small, low-power digital radios.
Some networks are self-forming networks that are formed by node devices (e.g., routers, transceivers, etc.) communicating with each other to form network connections between and/or among the devices without external interaction. For example, the node devices in a ZigBee network can form the connections that define the network without a user having to provide input to the node devices to form the connections. Coordinator devices can be used to create the network by allowing some (but not all) node devices to join the network, but the node devices themselves can automatically form the communication connections that define the network.
One problem with self-forming networks is overlapping communication ranges of the node devices and the coordinator devices. If there are several coordinator devices in the same overlapping region and many node devices are attempting to join or form a self-forming network, the automatic network formation can result in two or more networks being formed with node devices that are not logically or efficiently grouped together in the different networks. For example, a system may be designed to have several networks self-formed with node devices in each room of several different rooms in a building forming a separate network. If the communication ranges of the coordinator devices and/or node devices overlap each other and/or extend into other rooms (than the devices are in), then one or more of the self-formed networks can be created with node devices that are in different rooms. If each network is to be formed with only those node devices in the same room, this can result in networks having inefficient communication routes and/or weak communication signals (e.g., due to walls between the different rooms).
Additionally, some self-formed networks may require firmware or other software updates to the node devices. If many node devices are trying to join or form a network at the same time, then updating all node devices can take a significantly long time, such as several hours. This updating can prevent the network from being available to perform other functions, such as detecting occupancies of rooms, automatically activating or deactivating lights, etc.